Aussie Towns

This is a series of caches that has been put out along the Kidman Way to celebrate our favorite towns.

The caches are all of a reasonable size and should easily be found.

As this is the main highway all care should be taken to pull of the road in a safe position as not to interfier with the traffic.

Stawell (pronounced /stɔːl/, "Stawl"), is an Australian town in the Wimmera region of Victoria. At the 2006 census, Stawell had a population of 6,035.

It was founded in 1853 during the Victorian gold rush and is one of few towns in Victoria retaining an active gold mining industry.

Stawell is famed for the Stawell Gift, a professional foot race. It is also known as the gateway to the Grampians National Park.

It is named after Sir William Foster Stawell (1815–89), the Chief Justice of Victoria.

William McLachlan discovered alluvial gold at Pleasant Creek in May 1853, but the yield was not in sufficient volumes to attract much interest, as the Ballarat and Bendigo fields were known to be giving better results, and had already established the infrastructure to support the miners. There was however sufficient numbers for the area to support the beginnings of a settlement. The town site was first settled during 1853 and was named Pleasant Creek. The mining population of the Stawell field remained relatively small (averaging 200 or less) until 1857 when a series of new alluvial gold discoveries were made.

In 1861, the township was renamed to honour Sir William Foster Stawell (1815–89), the Chief Justice of Victoria resulting in the name of the Pleasant Creek post office becoming "Stawell". The town was created a borough in 1869.